Individual Reflective Report on Engineering Project: BNV6114 Module

This individual reflective report details a student's experience with an engineering project focused on a feasibility study for two sites in Hong Kong. The project involved assessing the structural safety of existing buildings, considering cost-effective remedial strategies, and advising on development scenarios, including the potential of micro-apartments. The student, acting as a team leader, coordinated tasks such as structural calculations, AutoCAD simulations, and report compilation, while also addressing regulations and market trends. The report highlights the student's contributions, challenges, and learning experiences, including the use of BS codes and AutoCAD software. The analysis included beam and column design, and the student's reflection emphasizes personal development priorities and inter-professional collaboration within the team. The project's objective was to determine the best use of the sites while considering both functional design and environmental impacts.

INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIVE REPORT
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

Introduction
It was during my second semester of Degree in Engineering and Built Environment, Mr. John
Kavaka, a client engaged us to conduct a feasibility study on best use of two various sites in
Hong Kong. The client intended to buy them by tender. The first site is made up of tenement
block at Nos 41-43 Woosung Street, Jordan, Kowloon while the second site is situated at No 122
Nam Cheong Street, Shamshuipo, Kowloon. In as much as existing buildings at both sites are in
a state of dilapidation, one of the development scenarios of client is to have them preserved.
Tasks – or elements of these - you contributed to the project, with reference to the client
brief
The project was inclusive of a feasibility study on the best use of two different sites in Hong
Kong and was going to acquire them by tender. The feasibility study was carried out by
weighing numerous options including market trends as well as the prevailing space use demands
in the market. The applicable rules and regulations were as well taken into consideration in a bit
to come up with the best option of the two selected sites for the work.
We were to offer advice the structural safety of buildings alongside requisite cost-effective
remedial strategies to be adopted. The client was interested in knowing if tender prices to be
offered taking into account the applicable regulation measures and market conditions. Going by
recent popularity of micro-apartments, client was interested in knowing if this is the ideal
development scenario for current market. He was interested in knowing all feasible development
scenarios as well. In as much as underlying motive is to harvest highest possible return from both
projects, he is as well quite concerned with entire life costs, specifically repercussions on
immediate neighborhood socially as well as environmentally.

Objectives of the Project
The overall project objective was to conduct a study that would enable the client to select the
best use of two different sites in Hong Kong. The two sites were established to be located in
dilapidated conditions and the client was seeking advice concerning structural safety as well as
any cost-effective remedial measures that may be adopted during the design and construction of
the building to ensure maximization of the expected returns. Besides these, several suggestions,
as well as recommendations, were made on the best design strategies and approach that the client
may use to ensure achievement of best design that is not only functionally fit but also
aesthetically appealing.
Own actions and attitudes contributed to the group performance
I played the role of a team leader in this project where my responsibility was concerning quite
several tasks as listed:
 Conducting initial readings for the project
 Coordination between the project tutor and members of the team
 I was accountable for project planning as well as progress tracking
 Determination of the structural fitness or safety of the two buildings on the two sites
through manual calculations
 Making a comparison of the manual results to the results of AutoCAD software analysis
 Compilation of the report as well as making the technical presentation
 The manner of implementation of my project as well as the strategies of management of
people resulted in my teammates following suit in leading their projects. The chain
reaction feedback of the upcoming leaders got to be as happy and I take pride in the
same.

Key personal professional development priorities
At first, I classified the project into three main segments and called for a meeting of my other
members of the team to assign duties to each of them. I made a report to set the deadlines for the
various deliverables of the project. I assigned myself the structural calculations and
determination of the safety of the two buildings even as another member was assigned to work
on the software simulations using AutoCAD and the last member of the team was to come up
with suggestions on the best design strategies as well as the prevailing regulations and laws
regarding the prevailing market trends (Ganesh and Divya, 2017). I sent an email to my
professor as well on the same.
To obtain the manual structural calculations, I had to adopt the BS code BS 1885 to obtain all the
values linked with the correction and modification factors, safety factor among other concerns.
My supervisor helped me with understanding how to use the manual besides the online tutors
that I searched. AutoCAD is trending software and was not familiar to all the members of the
group. Hence, there were to lab sessions that were organized to enable the team to familiarize
itself with the software. The supervisor aided us with all the basic components and working of
the software. Process of working inter-professionally
In a bid to gain proper experiences of using the software, I opted to make arrangements for the
meeting of all the members of the group so that we might sit together and learn to the greatest
extent we could via the tutorial as well as knowledge of individuals.
Such meetings as well aided in the comprehension of the BS code which was of particular
importance. As for most of the structural calculations we had to make a presentation of the work
accomplished in the week. It aided in keeping the track of the progress. Such informal meetings

aided in keeping the harmony as well as comprehension among the members of the group. In
case a member was lagging, such a member was aided and encouraged if needed.
I began with the initial tier that was research on the internet as well as reading through books and
discussed it with the professor. My main task was to obtain the structural calculations of the two
buildings. I researched the main factors of safety in a given place and generate a comprehensive
list of the same and began with calculation on each of such things. I also generated a list of the
assumptions and parameters of design as we were already provided with by the professor.
The second most fundamental aspect of the task involved an elaborate understanding of the
structure and layout of the plans of the two buildings on different sites. This was already issues
by the client in the format of a table that contained all the needed data in the calculation or
determination of the structural soundness of the buildings (Shen et al., 2010) and calculations
followed thereafter. The first calculation was on the serviceability and design of the beams that
ran through the various floors of the buildings. The beams were designed and checked for fitness
about reinforcement, deflection, shear as well as compression alongside tensional forces effects
(Khattak et al., 2016). The basic formula for calculation of the deflection is as given below:
Bending moments, shear forces & deflections for different standard load cases

Strain and stress in an elastic beam
Column design
The design of the column tended to be quite straightforward. The process of design involves
ensuring the design load does not go beyond the load capacity of the given column i.e.
Load capacity>=design axial load (Larson, 2018)
In cases where the column is expected to resist a predominantly axial load, the load capacity was
given by
Load capacity=design stress*area of cross-section of the column (Gan et al., 2015)
Conclusion
Upon completion of this project, I notified the client and asked him to share with me the
blueprints. I began making a comparison of my experimental calculations with the structural
loads of the building to procure the optimum structural safety needs. After three weeks of
continuous work, I submitted my structural safety analysis of the building. I felt proud of the
efforts I made and would hence conclude that the project has aided me in attaining my goals.

References
Anees, M., Hussain, S.M., Khan, K. and Abbas, A.T., 2018. 4 Factors Affecting the Need for
Feasibility Analysis (For Local Construction Projects). Sir Syed Research Journal of
Engineering & Technology, 8(1), pp.5-5
Archibong, T.C. and Ogunba, O.A., 2018. An Appraisal of Feasibility and Viability Studies
Practice among Estate Surveyors and Valuers in Uyo (No. afres2018_118). African Real Estate
Society (AfRES)
Gan, X., Zuo, J., Ye, K., Skitmore, M. and Xiong, B., 2015. Why sustainable construction? Why
not? An owner's perspective. Habitat international, 47, pp.61-68
Ganesh, G.S. and Divya, T., 2017. Feasibility Study on Delay Factors Influencing Construction
Projects in India. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research
(IJEMR), 7(3), pp.391-398
Heralova, R.S., 2017. Life cycle costing as an important contribution to a feasibility study in
construction projects. Procedia Engineering, 196, pp.565-570
Khattak, M.A., Arifb, A.A., Hannanc, A., Syukrid, F. and Hamid, H., 2016. Design and planning
of a nuclear power plant in Malaysia: A feasibility report. Journal of Advanced Research in
Applied Sciences and Engineering Technology, 3(1), pp.67-76
Larson, I.M., 2018. Container-Based Emergency Sanitation: A Feasibility Report for Eugene,
Oregon after the Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake (Doctoral dissertation, University of
Oregon)

Shen, L.Y., Tam, V.W., Tam, L. and Ji, Y.B., 2010. Project feasibility study: the key to the
successful implementation of sustainable and socially responsible construction management
practice. Journal of Cleaner Production, 18(3), pp.254-259